Photo Gallery: Occupy Wall Street Ignites Political Hackathon

Critics dismiss #OccupyWallStreet as a bunch of dirty, whining hippies and trustafarians. But many of the protesters at Zuccotti Plaza are actually hacker-minded geeks bringing an engineering mentality to bear on politics and several high and low-tech problems.

The #OWS encampment runs on generators that power a media center packed with laptops, Wi-Fi and video equipment. Live updates and operational messages propagate over Twitter as well as over closed alternative networks resistant to sniffing by unwanted observers. Digital donations are funneled through Kickstarter, and material donations arriving from around the country supply a kitchen and a medical station -- which treats minor protest hazards such as pepper spray and cuts.

The DIY nature of the movement evokes the spirit of the Maker Faire and Hackathon events, with participants contributing their skills and creativity to support a larger, loosely defined movement or goal.

Here are our favorite scenes and hacks from the protest so far.

Top photo:

Michael Mozart, 45, live-broadcasts at the #OccupyWallStreet protest in Zuccotti Plaza. Mozart is a beta-tester for YouTube Live (JeepersMedia channel), a live-streaming feature of the popular video site, which also integrates directly into his Facebook and Google+ pages.

Although Mozart is neither "supporting or not supporting" the ideals of Occupy Wall Street, he still feels compelled to use his status as a beta-tester to show what was actually happening after hearing a TV news report of "only a few dozen protesters" at the plaza where he was certain there were hundreds.

Bottom photo: An outlet for phone chargers is plugged into a generator at the media center.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Protesters volunteering for the internet and information boards of #OccupyWallStreet work and broadcast from their media center. 3G and 4G hotspots provide Wi-Fi.

Protesters spend a lot of their time broadcasting their efforts on social networking sites as well as updating their own www.nycga.cc. They also have Kickstarter pages to help them take in donations from around the world to support the protest.

Video volunteers work in shifts to cover #OccupyWallStreet activities and log footage. On and off-site editors cut the video together and post to YouTube.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Amelia Marzec, 30, displays her creation called Signal Strength. The hack involves using a device to send peer-to-peer signals between mobile phones, making a traditional network unnecessary and preventing conversations from being surreptitiously monitored.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

A dishwasher pours dirty water into a grey water system. The system filters dirty dish water through woodchips, soil and plant roots to create cleaner water suitable for watering the flowers and trees around Zuccotti Plaza.

Shon Potado, 33, briefs the medic volunteers on how to use a solution to relieve the effects of pepper spray. Potado says the solution is half Mylanta and half water and is used to treat "chemical weapon exposure." Potado has also treated baton wounds and handcuff injuries as a result of protesters' run-ins with police.

The medic station boasts a number of supplies. Volunteers man the station but only give out homeopathic medicine, since they are not licensed professionals.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Justin Wedes, 25, does a live broadcast for the Global Revolution TV Livestream. Wedes is showing viewers how the photos Erik McGregor posted of a minor being arrested during a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge were blacked out by Facebook.

Verónica Bayetti Flores, 28, left, and Veda Myers, 27, right, make free screenprints reading "Bring Down The Wall" for anyone willing to wait in line. They use a catalyst in the ink that helps it dry without heat lamps.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Volunteers pass out copies of the Occupied Wall Street Journal. The broadsheet was funded through Kickstarter and created and printed in two days.

Passersby gather to read the protest signs at the encampment's gallery. The plaza is just across the street from Ground Zero and attracts lots of tourists on their way to the site.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Justin Wedes, 25, shouts a mic check. The protesters are not allowed to use amplification to project their voices so they rely on shouting and repeating to disseminate information among the group. A hack they call the People's Mic.

Jon Keane, 24, set up his camera to get reactions from people at #OccupyWallStreet. His partner, Andrew Reiner, 24, holds a mic to record their opinions. The duo does not have a specific affiliation, but are interested in better understanding the event.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Milo Gonzalez, 20, left, rolls tobacco with friends. #OWS is providing cigarettes to all the protesters. Paddy Dore, 23, in yellow, says smokers can "pay if they can, or not if they can't."

Anam Farooqui, 24, lies down inside the "box castle." Farooqui works for a FedEx retail store that used to also ship for UPS. Since they canceled their account, the store was left with hundreds of UPS boxes.

Farooqui took as many as he could carry to Zuccotti Plaza and used the adhesive strips "like brick and mortar" to block the wind and rain and make for "a more comfortable space that would have been a total waste at his store." However, dwellings are prohibited in Zuccotti Plaza and Farooqui was later asked to disassemble the structure by the police.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Erik McGregor, 43, plays ping-pong on a makeshift table. McGregor, who has been at the protest since it first started two weeks ago, erected the ping-pong net by taping down books from the occupation's library.

Clothes dry on handrails on the west side of Zuccotti Plaza. The protesters deal with a near daily dose of rain.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Kitchen staff prepare donated food for lunch. They are not allowed open flame at the plaza so most of the food is cold, unless volunteers cook in Brooklyn kitchens and bring meals to the plaza.

A spread of sandwiches and cold food is laid out for lunch.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Heather Haskell, 41, reads a book called "Give Me Liberty" by Naomi Wolf at the makeshift library during the Occupy Wall Street Protest in Zuccotti Plaza on Oct. 2, 2011. Mrs. Haskell flew in from Boulder, Colorado for the protest and stumbled upon this book that she says "outlines exactly why we're here."

Ethan Wolfert, 4, holds a sign at #OccupyWallStreet.

Photos: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com

Police huddle underneath a statue to avoid the rain across the street from #OccupyWallStreet. A large police presence remains throughout the area even on days when no demonstrations or activities are planned.